Breeding

I have 9 guinea pigs, and I love them all so much. They have brought such love and inspiration to my life, and they have brought me much closer to my roommate, who helps me to raise them.

I honestly believe that anyone could benefit from having a guinea pig as a pet (and the more you have, the greater the benefit).

I was thinking about starting to breed guinea pigs for pet stores. But how do I get started? What's the wholesale price for a cavy? Where do I find pet stores that buy guinea pigs? At what age can I remove them from their mother? Can someone give me the basics, please?

-Dan

[CavySpirit]

Oh God. Please, say it isn't so. Double bad.

You should start by reading this page (www.CavySpirit.com/breeding.htm) and then surfing the rest of my site, pay close attention where PET STORES are mentioned. Also be sure and see this page on what it means to be a Responsible Breeder: www.cavyspirit.com/responsiblebreeder.htm And your objective alone puts you right out of that category. Please do more homework, research, and reading on the forums. Try turning to rescue instead. You'll still get your fix of breeding--only instead of being the cause of it, you get to help deal with the consequences of it.

In case you missed the intro to this site (top of the forum page), here it is again:

<em>This forum is owned and operated by a guinea pig rescue and is a rescue-friendly board. <strong>Intentional breeding and/or showing discussions are not welcome in this forum.</strong></em>

If this thread goes in the direction of supporting breeding and/or pet stores, it will be closed and moved.

oh god i wouldnt suggest breeding them and selling them to a petstore. you dont know whats going to happen to them there. its one thing if you breed a litter and keep them and love them to yourself but please dont breed for a pet store. in the case of my rats, i got a pregnant one and she had seven babies and i was going to give them back to the pet store till i found out they sell them for feeder rats now i'm going to keep them all to myself and give them lots of love. keep all this in mind.

yeah I agree. Plus, each time your sow gets pregnant she has a 20 percent chance of death or complications. if the sow is over 6 months or is a year old, don't breed them. Their pelvis closes in more, and the babies can't be born easily and the mom might die unless you do a C section which is risky too.
petstores, sometimes breed hamsters, guinea pigs, rats, mice,etc in the back room and sell them just of course for the money. Its often dirty, and the animals aren't cared for that good at all. if you must breed, then don't give them to a petstore. You don't know what kind of people get the babies. Adopt them out to people you know are good people.
your sow will live a longer and happier life not to have to breed. it takes too much out of her, the babies get all the protein,etc and she has to re coperate after the whole long pregnancy. it lasts about 2 months give or take a few more days. DON'T DO IT. please.

there are tons of pigs out there homeless or have no homes that are in rescues, or shelters. They are just as good as any pig and can be paired with your other pigs nicely or to your preferences.

if you want a baby pig then go to a rescue and adopt one. they have young ones, and young adults, adults, and of course senior pigs.

Don't add to the already large population. plus, have you thought of the cost of all the food and vet care you have to have for your sow? if you truly love your sow don't put her through all that stress and pain for no reason.

just re think it.

Sorry, this was one of my first posts about a month ago. Since then I've read up on cavy sprit's breeding pages, and I now totally agree- breeding for pet stores is not a good idea.